If you're in the northern hemisphere like we are, things are starting to heat up as summer nears.

Likewise things have been heating up on our blog, Christian Web Trends, as well as many other Christian blogs. In the month of May we've been leading more than 60 bloggers through series called 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. During this series not only have we shattered all our previous records for visitors and comments, but many of the bloggers participating are reporting record numbers of visitors as well.

Blogging is a great way to attract and engaged new visitors to your website as well as take a leadership role in your field. In this month's newsletter we highlight what we're doing to help bloggers. Plus we've got a great special on hosting, a funny video, two great new templates and a coupon. Get it while it's hot!

In His Service,
Paul Steinbrueck
OurChurch.Com

IN THIS ISSUE
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1) Bronze/Ad-Free Upgrade Special
2) 31 Days to Build a Better Blog
3) Blog Update: Can Intimacy Be Created Through Social Media?
4) Promote Your Blog in the Forums
5) Funny Video: Facebook in Real Life
6) Score Points with New Monthly Webmaster Survey
7) New Modern Worship and Memorial Templates
New Coupon - Only Available in This Newsletter

1) BRONZE/AD-FREE UPGRADE SPECIAL
If you're still making due with a free site or Starter package, this month we're providing a great way for you to take the next step with your website. Upgrade and get a year of the Bronze Hosting Package and Ad-Free Option together for only $129. That's a savings of $40. This special offer expires at the end of May, so order now!

If you would like to learn how to better lead, inspire, teach, grow or sell by blogging, join us on the Christian Web Trends blog as we continue in our series 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. It's helping scores of people take their blog to several steps forward. It can help you too.

3) BLOG UPDATE - CAN INTIMACY BE CREATED THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA?
Rhett Smith, who is a family therapist, pastor to youth and families, and a guy who spends a good bit of time thinking about how technology impacts our relationships raises a great topic on his blog today in a post titled, Are We Fooling Ourselves To Think Intimacy Can Be Created Online Through Social Media?

His post focuses on the difference between self-revelation and self-presentation. To summarize, self-revelation is letting people see who we really are, which is essential for intimacy. Self-presentation is projecting an image of how we want people to see us, which is the antithesis of intimacy, because it hides who we really are.

So, the issue is whether social media can foster self-revelation which produces intimacy or whether it just fosters self-presentation which lacks intimacy.

4) PROMOTE YOUR BLOG IN OUR FORUMS
If you have a blog or start a blog this month, we want to help you by promoting it. Post info about your site and blog in the forum topic we created for this purpose, and we'll help to spread the word about your blog in a variety of ways throughout the month. We haven't figured out all the details, but we're talking about including links on our blog and in the webmaster newsletter. If you've got other creative ways we can help promote your blog, post that in the forum as well.

5) FUNNY VIDEO: FACEBOOK IN REAL LIFE
Ever wonder what would happen if people did the same things offline as they do on Facebook? See for yourself in this hilarious video. Add it to your own site to give your visitors a laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRsRLZiyH20

6) SCORE POINTS WITH NEW MONTHLY WEBMASTER SURVEY
We were a bit late in getting a new monthly webmaster survey out, so we wanted to let you know it's now online. Just go to your main admin or webmaster page and look for the link to the "Webmaster Survey."

If you're not familiar with it, every month we put a new 5-10 question survey online for our webmasters. It helps us understand our members thoughts and opinions on various issues. We give you 250 Powerpoints for completing it each month which helps your OCC search rankings and your chances to win free advertising each month in the Powerpoints challenge.

7) NEW MODERN WORSHIP AND MEMORIAL TEMPLATES
We've got two brand new NE1 templates this month. The first is called Modern Worship and has a nice earth tones header with a family reading the bible. The second is a memorial template, which was designed to be used in sites that honor a loved one who has died. Plus now just about all our other NE1 templates are editable.
http://forums.ourchurch.com/viewtopic.php?t=6261

NEW COUPON - ONLY AVAILABLE IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Click on the coupon below to "claim" it. After claiming the coupon, it will appear in the order form for all of your OCC websites until it expires. It can be used once per site. If you have any problems clicking on the coupon, you can also claim it by going to your order form and entering coupon code blog.
http://www.ourchurch.com/edit/order2.php?couponClaim=Submit&couponCode=blog

OVERHEARD...
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"Hello, my name is Ellie... We just started a new ministry called racing for the son ministries... Our first event is this weekend at a bikefest in Leesburg, Fl." - ellenjeffsullivan

NE1 TIP O' THE MONTH
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A blog is a great way to communicate the values, ideas, and happenings of your organization with your visitors. NE1 has a built-in blog module.

WEBSITE SPOTLIGHT: Heritage United Methodist Church – http://www.heritageumc.com
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Heritage United Methodist Church is located in Clearwater, Florida. They just launched their new custom CMS website (http://www.ourchurch.com/design/) this month. Their site utilizes many of the features that churches need to have online these days. Some of those features include streaming audio for their sermons, a document download manager for their print newsletters and other forms, an events calendar, a staff directory, links to social networks and more.

They have also hired OCC to create a new custom design template for the Youth section of their site, so be on the look out for that addition coming very soon. You can check out Heritage United Methodist Church at http://www.heritageumc.com